Writers' Conference

The Napa Valley Writers' Conference was an inspired experience. It was beautiful, really. It was one of the busiest and most tiring weeks I've had in a while, as exhausting as a week on call in ICU. But it was so much fun, so fresh and exciting. I was able to go under the auspices of a Healing Arts Poetry Scholarship; the donor is a poet who attended the conference in the past, and I really really appreciated the opportunity.

Writing a poem a day is tough. It saps all my creative energy but it was so rewarding. I was really pushed to my limits, and the prompts challenged me in ways I could not imagine. "A little learning is a dang'rous thing; / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring" (Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism). The other writers in the workshop were outstanding; I was constantly impressed and inspired by the things I read. The diversity of the poetry was astounding; the forms (pantoum!), the images, the language, the themes. Our poetry confronted assumptions, dared lines of taboo, delved into the mysterious, frightening, and rancid. The participants ranged in age from 20s to 70s, from the Renaissance man retiree to the war veteran to the art historian to the MFA student.

Even beyond the daily workshops, I learned a whole lot about craft and art from the daily lectures. I got a book list. I loved the evening readings. I found poems and stories. I met people. I ate fantastic food (the school is a culinary school). I had an amazing host family. Napa is beautiful. I had a fabulous time. Onto the next adventure!